Launch of Go Green SG 2025 - Dr Amy Khor

1. A very good morning. I am happy to join all of you for the launch of Go Green SG 2025.

60 Years of Building a Clean and Green Singapore

2. This year, we celebrate SG60. It is apt that we are launching the third edition of Go Green SG to commemorate 60 years of Singapore’s sustainability journey at Changkat Primary School, which also turns 60 this year.

3. 60 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine the clean, green and liveable Singapore of today. Back then, our streets were filled with litter, our waterways were polluted, and the Singapore River was an open sewer. We did not have a modern sanitation system, and relied on “night soil” collectors to dispose our waste. Hawker food, prepared along crowded streets in filthy and unsanitary conditions, often caused typhoid and cholera outbreaks. During dry seasons, Singapore lacked safe drinking water so severely that we had to ration water island-wide.

4. Against this backdrop, our pioneers laid out a bold vision to transform Singapore into a modern Clean and Green City. Singapore launched the first annual “Clean and Green” campaign in 1968, even as we were dealing with critical issues of national survival, such as building up our armed forces. Over decades, we cleaned up our rivers, planted trees and created gardens. We relocated itinerant street hawkers into the clean hawker centres we frequent today, and built up public sanitation, waste management and water infrastructure. Because of these collective efforts, we are known today as one of the cleanest and greenest cities in the world.

Climate Change – A New Challenge

5. 60 years on, we continue to face new challenges. Climate change is an existential threat that is affecting our lives and livelihoods. As a low-lying island, Singapore is vulnerable to rising sea levels. We will experience more erratic and extreme weather – hotter temperatures, more intense rainfall and longer dry seasons. The climate crisis is exacerbating water scarcity and the loss of biodiversity, and will impact our economy, food security and public health. Our densely built environment absorbs and retains heat, compounding the effects of rising temperatures and the health risks they pose. 

6. Singapore is doing our part to combat climate change. We recently announced new 2035 climate targets that keep us on track towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Achieving our climate goals requires the collective efforts of everyone. Each of us has a personal responsibility to protect and steward our shared environment, for ourselves and our future generations. That is the essence of Go Green SG 2025: Connect Singaporeans of all ages and backgrounds, so that we can Contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future together.

Building a more sustainable community

7. A more sustainable home begins with a green community. There has been strong support from People, Public and Private (3P) partners, who have organised sustainability initiatives in conjunction with Go Green SG. 

   1. For example, Stridy, a non-profit organisation, has been organising community clean-ups since the first Go Green SG in 2023. Last year, in collaboration with vintage fashion brand Vintagewknd, it organised a clean-up where participants wore upcycled clothing and collected some 66kg of litter across Singapore. 

8. Such collaborations can drive positive behavioural change towards green habits. 93 per cent of Go Green SG participants last year said they were willing to lead a sustainable lifestyle, while 92 per cent were willing to advocate for sustainability. 

9. Ground-up efforts, such as the interactive Eco Hub at Changkat Primary School, are equally important in fostering a green community spirit. With features such as a wormery, edible garden and sustainability trail, the school’s Eco Hub brings all of you together to learn about sustainability concepts such as circular economy, food security and biodiversity through experiential learning. I look forward to visiting the Eco Hub later.

10. Making sustainability a way of life also starts with nurturing greater awareness on how we can each contribute towards a greener future – and we must start young. From today, primary and secondary school students will receive an SG60 Go Green SG e-book that traces Singapore’s environmental journey over 60 years, where you and your friends can learn what you can do to keep our waterways clean, reduce waste and support local produce. I am happy to share that three students from Changkat Primary School – Khayra (pronounced as khai-rah), Jun An and Srikaarthika (pronounced as shree-kaar-thi-ka) – helped to design the characters in this book. 

Launch of Go 25

11.  Let me share one area where all our collective habits can make a big difference to Singapore and each other, an area which we can all personally relate to.

12. Singapore is, quite literally, an air-conditioned nation. 80 per cent of our households own air conditioners; most of us perceive air-conditioning as an essential need in our hot and humid climate. Yet, some air-conditioned spaces are so cold that when we enter, we sometimes feel the need to bring along and put on an extra layer of clothing to keep warm. It seems somewhat absurd that we need to wear warm clothing on a hot day in tropical Singapore!

13. When we make our indoor spaces too cold with air conditioning, it is not just uncomfortable, it takes up a lot of energy too. Air conditioning makes up nearly a quarter and half of average household and building energy consumption respectively, which adds to our carbon emissions. Ironically, our unsustainable cooling habits contribute to a warmer climate and in turn, a greater need for air-conditioning.

14. All of us can change our cooling habits and create a positive feedback loop. Research has found that small adjustments, such as raising indoor air-conditioned temperatures by 3 degrees Celsius from 22 to 25 degrees Celsius, can significantly reduce energy consumption of offices by more than 30 per cent. Compared to an overcooled indoor space, we can achieve energy savings while still staying comfortable at 25 degrees Celsius. 

15. In support of Go Green SG, the Singapore Green Building Council and MSE will launch the Go 25 movement today. The Go 25 movement aims to encourage all of us to commit to setting our indoor air-conditioned temperature to around 25 degrees Celsius at home, in workplaces and in buildings. 

    1. Building owners and businesses can support the movement by taking the Go 25 pledge to adopt a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius in their premises, supplement air-conditioning with hybrid cooling solutions such as ceiling fans, and engage their tenants and occupants on sustainable cooling. 

    2. Each of us can also dress light when going to air-conditioned places such as shopping malls, opt for fans over air-conditioning at home, and encourage our family and friends to do the same. At the booth by the Singapore Green Building Council, you can check how your current AC habits compare with others, and learn how to optimise indoor temperatures for 25C through smart solutions.

Conclusion

16. We can all join in Go Green SG to shape the environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient Singapore we want. Together, we can build a cleaner, greener and more sustainable home for generations to come. Thank you.